Tea and Coffee

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Happy Mother's Day

Pickin' Up a Bouquet: Wildflower Identification

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Nestled in the Nettles

How It's Crafted: Paracord Belt

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Vow of Silence

From Trash to Treasure: Recycling Items For Survival

As you know this month we are doing a recycling series, and we are moving right along this month with the recycling blog. Last week I showed you some items that you could reuse several times on the trail. This week we are going to look into things you can recycle that you might otherwise throw away. These could be items that you bring with you that you choose to hang on to so you don't leave garbage behind, or items that you find on the trail that are theoretically clean enough for you to pick up and use.

The first item I have is a water bottle, or in my case, a pop bottle. Any kind of bottle like this will do, especially if its plastic. This pop bottle went fishing with me and when I finished my pop, I kept it in my pocket. Remember what we talked about before, if it's not important to you, you are more than likely going to leave it behind. That's why I kept this on my person after I finished with it so it would make it back with me. Now what you can do with this bottle is make a nice survival fishing rod. What you want to do is take some fishing line and tie it around the bottom curve of your pop bottle as shown to the right. After it is secured around the bottle, just wrap your line.

Another thing Yankee and I talked about, (Yankee Outdoor Adventures on YouTube) was how often you find fishing lures in trees where people have to cut and run. You can take those lures that you find and store them in your water bottle, or of course bring your own. You can store lures, rooster tails, small hooks, bass hooks, sinkers, artificial bait, jigs and more. With all of these stored in your bottle along with the line you previously tied around your bottle, you have a tackle kit ready to go.

The next thing we can work with is a pop can. Now I find pop cans lying around all the time, I do NOT recommend doing this with a random pop can you find on the trail. First you want to cut the can straight down. You can use the edge of the nutritional info box for a reference. This cut doesn't have to be straight, but it helps if it is. Next you are going to cut a line a quarter of the way around the can horizontally in both directions at the top and bottom of the vertical line you cut. This will allow you to open the can like flaps. We now have a reflective candle holder. I placed one of my squat candles in the can and lit it and wow is it bright. However if you are really in a pinch, you could always light up a crayon.

Well guys that will do it for today. Next week we will be finishing up this recycling series and you know you don't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

How It's Crafted: The Mock Inferno

How It's Crafted: Char Cloth

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Bush Cake

Trails With Ole Nick: Making the Square Tarp

Trails With Ole Nick: Fire Making on an East KY Ridge

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: The Tenacious C

Trails with Ole Nick: Tarp Setup on an East KY Ridge

Burning up the Supplies: Using Cargo Tape for Fire

Last week we talked about making our own raw hide glue. This week I wanted to actually break out the cargo tape. Now, I love cargo tape. It was one of the first C's I started packing with me everywhere I went and it's one of things that I see a lot of people skip on and I never understood why because of all of the benefits you get from packing it with you. It can do so much for you. In today's blog I want to specifically demo its uses in fire making. Now cargo tape can be used for a lot of things like dressing wounds, making repairs, and I have even seen some make rope out of it. We will try some of that next week, but for now I will just demonstrate it's power in a fire kit.

Gorilla brand cargo tape; it is my favorite brand of cargo tape. I think it does an excellent job of bonding things together. I also have Gorilla glue which we will be working with as well. On the bottle it says that it bonds to wood, stone, foam. metal, ceramic, glass, and more. This could be your skin if you really needed it in that sort of situation. Now I have what I call the cargo tape match. I have taken a strip of cargo tape, found the center of it lengthwise and folded one side in half so that the adhesive bonds to itself and left the other side open so that the adhesive is exposed. Now with a lighter and five seconds of flame, the cargo tape is now ablaze. This flame will last you for a while because it will take the cargo tape some time to burn down, but you do want to be cautious holding it because bits of flaming tape will melt off of it. With one quick breath I am able to put this flame out. I have read online where people say that this is a windproof flame. If I am able to blow it out that easily, it is not a windproof flame. This is an extender for your fire. It is not a wind or bad weather match, it is just an extender. If you just can't get your fire to start, this is what you want. Now I have tried catching it with a spark and just couldn't get it to catch, so if you are going to pack this with you, it is best to assume that you are going to need to have direct flame as well.

The next thing I want to show you is the Gorilla glue. I put a dab of it on a wood sliver and much like the cargo tape, with only five seconds of direct flame I have a match. The adhesive in both the cargo tape and the gorilla glue are hydrocarbon which means they want to burn much like fuel. Now what you can do with this when starting a fire is set this burning wood into your bird's nest, place some dry kindling on top, and you are good to go.

Now if I have any one out there who is doing ultra light backpacking, send me a message at bpackbushcraft@gmail.com. What I wanted to show you was that some people prefer to take the Gorilla Tape to Go. In comparison to the cargo tape we used early, it is roughly half the size. But similar to the larger tape it catches a flame all the same.


I hope you enjoyed looking at cargo tape in just a fire kit mentality. If you are wondering how to pack your cargo tape for your fire kit, if you use the Altoids tin that I am so fond of you could wrap your cargo tape around the tin or some people I have seen will just take some and roll it up and store it in the tin. Either way gets an A. Next week we will be looking at the repair and patching side of cargo tape and you know you won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: Ready, Aim, Misfire

Wax & Wick: Choosing A Candle For the Tin Can Lantern

Last week we talked about electric illumination devices and chose one for my pack. This week we're going to be talking about the candle lantern, or specifically the candle inside them.  Now if you want to know the ins and outs of how a candle works, go to YouTube and search "how does a candle work," there is a lot of great information there. I am just going to give you the overview.. A candle is made of a wick and a hydrocarbon wax; that is, hydrogen connecting to carbon. When you light the wick, the wax begins to melt releasing a gas which is what keeps the flame burning. You can prove this by lighting the gas above the candle.

What we have today is a contest between three candles. We have a stick candle, what I call a squat
candle, and a tea candle. They will be competing in four different categories: being lit from a spark, how bright they burn, how long they burn, and overall cost effectiveness.

For the first test we must first char all the wicks of the candles. I then got some ferro rod  shavings on a board and was then going to try to use those shavings to ignite a spark from the candle. The only candle that was able to participate in this test was the stick candle and it did not cast a spark. The next test was to get some charcloth in a char tin and cast a spark. This gave us a nice hot ember to try to light our candles on. This time the stick candle and the squat candle got to participate however both failed. I was able to get an ember on

the squat candle, but was not able to light the wick.

For the second test of illumination, we are going to go back to the same track that we tested out our electronic illumination devices. First up is the tea candle which we have to get right up on the sign to see. The same with the squat candle. The stick candle performed slightly better than these other two due to the fact that it has a larger flame. Now none of these did well in comparison to the electronic devices, but this is what we are working with.

For the third test we are going to take a fresh version of each candle, put it into a lantern and burn them until they go out by themselves. For the stick candle we will be using and open top lantern due to the height of the candle. The tea candle burned for 3 hours and 50 minutes, the stick candle for 4 hours and 6 minutes, and squat candle for 6 hours and 15 minutes. I really thought the stick candle would burn the longest since it appears to have the most wax and there fore the most fuel to burn. However, I think where it was in an open top lantern a lot of the gasses that keep the flame burning simply escaped out of the top. Also the squat and tea candles have a metal base that pulls their wicks down. I think for the stick candle there was a moment where the wax was lighter than the wick and it nose dived.

Now looking at cost effectiveness. The tea candles come in a pack of 50 for about $3-5 so individually they are between five and ten cents. Next is the squat candles which are 50 cents a piece and can be purchased individually. The stick candles are 88 cents a piece and are purchased individually. Two tea candles can burn longer than on squat candle, so if you are looking for over all cost effectiveness, the tea candle is the way to go.

Before we talk about which candle I will be using, let's talk about why each candle got the ranking it did. In third place was the stick candle, which technically got a disqualification simply because it does not fit in the lantern. It's not the candle's fault, it's not the lantern's fault, it's just reality. The tea candle is ranked second because it was always playing second fiddle to either the squat or stick candle. It only really excelled at being cost effective, however, I'm not just looking for a cheap candle, I'm looking for a powerful one. The clear winner to me is the squat candle. I almost lit it with a spark, it was only average in illumination, but it burned for an entire 6 hours. Plus, to me there isn't much of a difference in 5 cents and 50 cents.

You may be wondering why we put so much into working with these candles. Next week we will be reviewing a candle and candle lantern that can supposedly burn for 9 hours and I wanted the best candle I could find to contend with it. This will also be the last blog of the year aside from our Christmas special so you definitely don't want to miss it. As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Every Day I'm Carryin': Building EDC Kits and Choosing Cutting and Combustion Options

Last week we highlighted and briefly talked about five blogs that I thought would help prepare for the next series we are going into: EDC kits. If you aren’t sure what EDC stands for, it is an acronym for Every Day Carry. This is a collection or group of items, equipment and gear that when working together can improve survivability in an emergency situation.

EDC kits range from very small to very complex. The smaller kits can be as simple as containing one item such as a knife, lighter, emergency poncho, or a gun. The problem with these simple kits is that they often don’t contain enough tools to improve survivability in an emergency situation. On the flip side, complex kits which are much larger and are filled up with anything and everything from take down bows, full fishing tackle, pop up tents, and a dozen or so MREs. The downside to this type of kit is that they are often too large and too bulky to be conveniently carried around every day. I believe your EDC should be right there in the middle. It should contain just enough tools to improve your survivability in an emergency situation and it should be light and compact enough that you will be willing to take it with you everywhere you go every day.

While putting together my own EDC kit, I came up with three qualities all of the items in your kit should have. The first of these three is Familiarity.  This is something we outdoorsmen are not new to. We are familiar with our bug out bags, our fishing gear, our kayak gear, and the firearms we take into the field, and so on. For the same reason, you should be familiar with your EDC kit.

Being familiar with your gear is going to give you two distinct advantages. The first advantage is that you are going to know the capabilities and limitations of your gear. For example, if you have a knife that you know you cannot baton with, you are not going to waste energy and resources trying to baton with that knife. You also minimize the risk of injury if something were to happen and the knife breaks while you are batoning and comes back on you. You become familiar with these items during what Dave Canterbury calls “dirt time” which is the time you spend out in the field actually working with your gear. I recommend that anything you pack in your EDC kit is as trusted as your best friend.

The second advantage you will have is knowing how to manipulate your gear into getting the desired result. For example you will know where to strike the ferro rod on your knife, what angle to hold it at when you want a deep or shallow cut, and how much wood and force to use when batoning. A person who carves spoons and bowls out of wood with nothing but a pocket knife has used that knife enough through dirt time that they know how to manipulate to achieve the results they want. It’s not all the knife and it is not all the skill of the person holding the knife, it is a combination of both. This is the familiarity you want with your EDC gear.

Now we can get into actually building our EDC kit. When starting off, it is important to have a framework in mind of what you expect from your gear. You can look for other ideas online, but I am going to base mine around the five C’s of survivability. First up is cutting tool. I have my Camillus Seize which I know can strike a ferro rod, and carve. My second option is the UST 11-in-1 card. It has a knife blade, flathead screwdriver, can opener, bottle opener, saw blade, 4cm ruler, different sized hex wrenches, and a butterfly wrench. It also has a feature called a directional ancillary indicator which I’ll do more on later. I like this tool for its saw blade which allows me to cut notches without having to carve with my knife, as well as it has various 90 degree angles to strike a ferro rod on.

Next up is our Combustion kit. In my kit I have a lighter, a micro ferro rod, and a magnifying glass like what you would see someone reading a restaurant menu with. Each of these tools has a purpose to make a specific type of fire. First, with a flick of the Bic, we have sure fire. This allows me to easily light my tinder and get my fire started. Next is the ferro rod which is not as good as sure fire but does cast better sparks than flint and steel. Both the lighter and ferro rod are non-renewable resources. Lighting the lighter uses butane and striking the ferro rod chips away material. The magnifying glass is a renewable resource because I can always use it to enhance the sun’s rays and start a fire. All items except my cutting tool are stored in an Altoids tin. It is cheap and convenient and can also be used for sewing and fishing kits. These tins are great because you can make them water tight by wrapping the opening with two overlapping pieces of electrical tape. It can be used as a signaling device with the polished metal inside the tin. Lastly there are enough holes in the back of the tin that you can actually char in it.

Now let’s talk price. The knife was the most expensive item, which I spent $30 on, however I have seen it sell for as cheap as $10. The 11-in-1 card was $2 but I got it on sale for $1. If the Seize happened to be on sale you would likely get both of these items for $20. The Altoids tin candy and all cost about $3. The magnifying glass and ferro rod come in a pack of 10 for $10 which translates to $1 each and the lighter also come in a pack of eight and is roughly $1 individually. Altogether we have spent about $25 on our EDC kit. The ones you find in store already put together run for about $20 so you are spending more, however, if you are using gear you are familiar with, these items should already be accessible to you and you really aren’t spending anything at all.

As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Homeward Bound: Day 3 of the 3 Day Camp and Review

At last we have arrived at Day 3 of the 3 Day camp. Last week we talked about basic camp hygiene and we packed up as much as we possibly could on Day 2 so when it was time to go in, the only thing we really needed to pack up was the bedroll. After breakfast, that will be the plan to pack up and go in, but the day doesn’t end there. Once we get inside we will need to do some maintenance on our gear to keep it from becoming ruined. Let’s get into it.

Packing up our bedroll is as simple as packing everything up the way we took it out. First I lay my tarp out flat, layer in my wool blanket, garbage bags, and inflatables, and roll it up into a bedroll and secure it with paracord. Easy. Now all I have to do is pick up my pack which should already be ready to go and head inside. The first order of business is to take a well-deserved shower and check for ticks.

The first gear item I am going to turn my attention to is my

mess kit. I used my garden hose to wash out as much as I could but there are still some problem spots on the inside. I am just going to wash them in the sink with a sponge, soap and water. After cleaning them up they are not sparkling and shiny new, but there is a big improvement. Overall I am happy with how they cleaned up and I anticipate being able to get many more uses out of this mess kit.

It is important to note that you should deal with these items 24-48 hours after your camp. With that being said I am now going to work on my bedroll. It did rain during the camp so I know that at least my tarp is wet. My wool blanket being a cloth item could mildew if any moisture gets into it so what I did was drape it over my bathroom door and let it air dry. It didn’t appear to be wet when I got it out of the bedroll, but I hung it up as a precaution. The trash bags that I had used a moisture barrier were wet, but they are also easily replaceable so I chose to toss the ones I had used. The large inflatable that was supposed to serve as my mattress was a failure on this trip so I decided to dispose of it as well. Now to dry my tarp. What I decided to do was stake my tarp out over the large bush in my yard. A quick note, one of my tent stakes became bent during the camp and will need to be replaced. I actually had planned on replacing the whole set, but for the time being this is what I have. All I did was drape the tarp over the bush and used the stakes to pull it tight. This allows it to air dry in the sun. An alternative method to drying the tarp would be to wipe it down with some clean, dry towels, but I chose this method because I didn’t have to fool with it any more once it was staked out.

Now I would like to take this time to review the camp itself. I think overall it was a success. I also learned a lot from my experience during the camp and we are going to talk about some of those things now. I’m going to talk about my gear that falls under the category of the 5 C’s. My cutting tools did their job and did it well. I was impressed by how they maintained their edge throughout the camp. When I inspected them after coming in I found that none of them needed sharpened which was nice. My combustion kit worked the way it was supposed to as well and I know I will need to replace the charcloth I used for the next time I go out. However, I know this is an expendable resource that I will need to continuously replace. I never needed the cordage that I packed, however I did have some there if I needed it. I would like to add another container to my pack. The purpose of this being that I can have water boiling on the fire and water that I have already boiled cooling down to drink. This gives me more purified water to work with during my camp.

I would like to talk about my cover more in depth since this item did the most work and took the most hits throughout the camp. The tarp did its job well, the only issue I had was from a failure in one of my tent stakes. I do want to replace my metal stakes with plastic stakes because I think they will be more robust, so that will be something to look for in the future. The wool blanket was also very helpful. I don’t think I could have stood it out there as long as I did without it so I will definitely be using that item again. I was really surprised by how well the contractor garbage bags worked out in my camp and I think next time I will pack four instead of two. My inflatable mattress as I stated earlier was thrown away. The next camp I am going to try and use a yoga mat as my cushion between myself and the ground. The downside to this is that it may make my bedroll bulkier, but it is much more reliable than the inflatable. Speaking of inflatable I had much success with the smaller floaties in the pillow case and I will definitely be using those again as well.

Now for the personal items. The insect repellent spray easily earns the MVP for the camp. Without it I would not have made it. The mosquitoes were absolutely awful when they would hit, but spraying that spray got them off my case. I was very happy I chose to bring my washcloths along, they helped when it came to cleaning my gear and myself. The medicine kit helped out a lot too. Every time I have been camping I have always slept in a tent. This was actually the first time I have slept on the ground in a Bushcraft setting so the sleeping pills were very helpful in getting me to fall asleep and getting a good night’s rest. Another thing that I never would have thought would help me get a good night’s rest were my boots. By using them as a place to rest my head, I was much more comfortable and well rested the next day. That just leaves my food items. Overall the items I chose to pack with me were very good for the setting I was in. The bread was even good, however I did not have a good enough control over my fire to get it to cook properly so I will definitely need to work more with that. I packed enough food to have 6 meals, two per day, one for one afternoon, and one at night, plus my Slim-Jims. Next time I think I am going to pack enough food for four meals per day plus an extra day’s worth of food because frankly, I was still hungry. This could be attributed to a few things, but it is definitely something to change about my pack in the future.

I hope you have enjoyed this camping adventure as much as I have. I would like to add that next week there will not be a blog or a video, I will be taking a week’s break, but I will be back the week after with a whole new series. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub the Bushcraft Tub: Day 2 of the 3 Day Camp

Last week we talked about day 1 of the 3 day camp where we set up the tarp, did some cooking, and went to sleep for the night. Today we will be talking about Day 2 of the 3 Day camp. A couple of things I want to talk about first; during the night my mattress deflated. I continued to sleep on it as it served as a secondary moisture barrier. I also used my boots as sort of a headboard and place to rest my head and it actually helped make me much more comfortable and give me a better night’s sleep.

To start the day I enjoy a breakfast of canned fruit cocktail and some water that I had purified the night before. The fruit can has a pull tab, however if it were to fail, I have my Camillus Trench to open the can with. The goals for day 2 are to collect more firewood to make another good fire tonight, and also to go over some basic camp hygiene.

I checked the nearby trees for dead, dry branches that I could use for firewood. I can tell how dry they are by how easily they snap. Once I found a good bough, I took it from the tree and brought it back to my camp to be processed.

For lunch I ate the bread that I had made on the campfire the night before as well as some Slim-Jims. I would like to add that if you are taking Slim-Jims, or any other kind of jerky with you into your camp, have water. These food items are cured and quite salty and can make you very thirsty. This is why I didn’t have any Slim-Jims the night before. My water was still too hot to drink and I could have easily become dehydrated.

At this point during the camp it begins to rain. I decided to take advantage of this in a few ways. I have a large bough that I took down from a tree that needs to processed into firewood and kept dry so I decided to use this time to do that. The smaller kindling pieces I broke down and stored in my large bowl from my mess kit and the larger pieces that would be used as fuel I sat to the side near the back of the tent. Another way I took advantage of the weather is trying to harvest rain water. I used my empty fruit can to collect the water in. I took my bandana and set it on top of my tarp. Once it became saturated with water, it dripped into the can. I didn’t collect much, but it was something.

Once the rain stopped I started my campfire. There is no need to make more bread tonight since I will be going in after breakfast in the morning so I am going to do something a little different with my fire tonight. For starters I decided to try cooking my soup out of the can rather than in my mess kit. Next I also took some water and placed it in my large bowl and began to heat it over the fire to wash myself down with. Once the water is heated I get one of my washcloths wet and when it has cooled to a tolerable temperature, I wipe myself down with the cloth. It’s no shower, but it is refreshing after being in the hot, humid weather all day.

My fire is burning out and there is not much left for me to do. I figure now it is best to pack up as much as possible so when it is time to go home in the morning, I really only need to take down my tarp and pack up my bedroll. I make sure that I wash out the pieces of my mess kit and dry it as best as I can before I pack it and put it away. When I get home, I can actually put it in the sink and wash it a bit more thoroughly.

Well that’s about it for day 2. I hope you have enjoyed this blog. Next week we will be packing up the camp and talking about how to take care of our gear after we come in from the outdoors, as well as what I might do differently next time. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. If video is more your thing, check out my YouTube channel Backpack Bushcraft or just click here to watch now. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.